HARRY POV

I dropped one of Aunt Petunia's china plates, she screeched at me, picked up her frying pan, and swung at me, but my seeker reflexes dodged it.

She yelled at me, "get in your cupboard! Boy!" I was shocked, I don't sleep there… anymore. In that second I forgot one of the rules in this house 'don't talk back,' and I did.

"I don't sleep there!" I yelled back

"Be grateful I am not sending you to sleep outside in the garden!" She screeched back

I make my way to my tiny cupboard under the stair and crawl inside. I trace the writing on the walls and look around inside to see how much smaller it is now that I'm older and more prominent.

I suddenly hear a slam from the front door and hear Uncle Vernon yelling. Chunky footsteps get closer and closer to the entrance of MY cupboard, I scoot as far away as possible. The door opens in an instant uncle Vernon's PHAT arm is reaching for my leg, and unfortunately, he succeeds.

"I heard you made a mess, boy! You're about to get some punishment!" Uncle Vernon spits in my face

Uncle Vernon grabs my arm and drags me upstairs, I prepare for the worst when he throws me onto the bed with my back facing him, I look back to see his belt in his hand in the air being slashed down into my back. I bite my lip in pain to stop myself from crying out; he gives no mercy and continues harder until I'm crying in pain. He started to laugh and hold me by my throat.

I choke and struggle against his hold, Petunia enters the room and sees what's happening

"Don't kill the boy, honey. We don't need the neighbors to get suspicious" Petunia finally says as she leaves the room again

Vernon dropped me onto the ground and walked straight out of the room; I felt blood running down my back. It hurt like hell. I struggled to stand, so I crawled to the stairs and used the bar to hold myself up as I went down each step. Once I got into my cupboard I used one of my spare shirts and ripped it up to bandage my back.

I realized that Hedwig hasn't eaten but I can't move, tears roll down my face in frustration from my inability to move. After I calmed myself down, I realized that since I make breakfast, I can bribe Dudley with more bacon

I crawl out of my cupboard and fortunately find Dudley sitting on the couch and crawl over to him I start whispering

"Dudley, I need you to do me a favor, and if you do it, I'll give you five more pieces of bacon tomorrow for breakfast."

Dudley nods at me

"I need you to feed my owl Hedwig, the white one? I have her pouch of treats right here, give her these three pieces" I drop the three treats in Dudley's swollen sweaty hand and say "thank you" I watch Dudley walk upstairs. I pray it goes for the best; I crawl back into my cupboard because I hear Aunt Petunia upstairs.

As I sit in my cupboard, my eyes droop, and I become sleepy. A man appears, from the shadows, but for some reason, I can't make out his face. He feels warm and smells like pine and mint, he reaches out his hand and slowly I reach out for his hand and a spark travels down my arm. I ask the dark man "who are you" and he answers with a whisper "I am-"

"WAKE UP BOY" I shoot up and hear Petunias shrill voice

I sigh(fking hate her voice god damn)

I crawl out of my cupboard and slowly stand. I see Petunia standing there, and I almost thought I saw a glint of guilt in her eyes, but I shook it off. I limp my way into the kitchen and start cooking. Fortunately, I remember that I need to give Dudley extr n. I finish making their breakfast, knowing I won't get any. I carefully place their plates onto the table and ask Uncle Vernon

"Uncle Vernon, may I be excused and go into my cupboard?" I ask slowly and carefully, He grunts his confirmation with his food in his mouth

I slowly walk or well limp away to my cupboard, as I get inside I lie down on my stomach. I tell myself, "hang in there harry, last day till I get back to Hogwarts" As I lay here, I start to wonder and think about how Hermione and Ron haven't mailed me. I mean, I know how Dobby intercepted my letters in the second year. However, he wouldn't still be doing that. Who was that man in my dream? Tall and brooding almost mysterious. I have so many questions, but not even one answer.

There's a bang on my cupboard door. I open it to see Aunt Petunia with my list of chores in her hand. At this moment, I saw fit to ask Petunia about dropping me at Kings Cross tomorrow in the morning.

"Um Aunt Petunia, could you drop me at Kings Cross tomorrow? I'll try to convince Dumbledore to let me stay there during the Holidays so that I won't be here" I say in a small voice

"Heres your list of chores for the day boy, and yes, I can. Make sure all your stuff is ready now go, "Petunia said in a shockingly almost gentle voice?

She hands me the list, and I notice its extremely short

On the list, it showed

Pull the weeds, plant the rest of flowers, water all of the plants

Clean the kitchen floor

Do the dishes

I limp to the door and slip on my shoes, immediately I feel the strict heat on my face and realize I'm going to be dead before I get to Hogwarts tomorrow

I start plucking the weeds and feel sweat trickle down my forehead; I noticed a long black snake? I poke its tail and see it look at me

' annoying human must you disturb my slumber?' (parseltongue)

'You know it's not nice to talk about people like that, especially those who can hear you.' I reply with a smile on my face, this past summer made me think about how Slytherin isn't evil, and that I should stop judging it. Because of how I'm a snake in the lion's nest, huh.

'A Speaker! Oh! Will you be my master?!' the snake wiggled excitedly, and a secret part of me felt a pull to this snake. It was a gorgeous snake, blacked-out scales with a blue shine when the sun hits it.

'It'd be an honor to be your master' I answer confidently, I wonder what its gender and name are?

'Are you a female or male? And do you have a name?' I ask as I stroke its head

'I am a female king cobra, and I have no name' It preens into my hand as I stroke it.

'How about the name Ebony?' I look closely at the snake and reach out my hand for it to wrap around my arm, It slithers around my arm basking in the warmth of the sun

'I like it' her tongue flicked out and in her mouth

I start to plant the last of the flowers in the garden before Aunt Petunia yells at me for pausing. The soil felt cool, which was nice on such a hot day like this. I take the hose and place my finger on top of the nozzle so the water would spread out when sprayed.

I go inside and first hide Ebony in my cupboard

'You're gonna have to stay here as I finish my chores, but you'll get to meet my owl tomorrow' I hissed at Ebony who nodded at me

I make my wake to the sink and wash my hands thoroughly. I then open the bottom cabinet to get the cleaning solution, as I spray it on the floor and start to scrub I begin to think again. I wonder if this year at Hogwarts is going to be another "adventure." I didn't realize I finished cleaning the floor, so I stand up and start to do the dishes and place them in the dishwasher. There weren't many dishes, so I finished quickly.

My stomach growled as I look at the plates, but I knew I could hold on longer, I could wait one more day till I get to Hogwarts because then I get to eat as much as I want there.

I crawl back into my cupboard and painfully lie down on my ripped up bloody back. I pet Ebony and hear her hiss in contempt. It made me smile, knowing I could satisfy at least someone since the Dursleys are freaking monsters. But Dumbledore insists it's safe here and that I won't have to deal with voldie as long as I stay in the blood wards but I'm calling bullshit. I'm going to go to the Library and look for books on blood wards. I crawl out of my cupboard and walk outside for a second to look at the sun since I don't have a clock. It's around 5 pm now, so I guess I zoned out for a while. I learned how to tell time by looking at the sun and where it is in the sky.

I sneak upstairs to feed Hedwig quickly and grab at least one of my school books. I didn't look at which book I told, but I got downstairs and into the cupboard as fast as I can, luckily I grabbed my wand to use Lumos and started to read my book. I realized that I'm going to have to get all my stuff tomorrow. Still, I sigh in relief, knowing I won't have to get anything together since it's already together.

I start reading the book to realize it's about potions. To be honest, I liked potions because I love cooking since it's similar, but Snape, I guess, ruined it for me. I didn't realize I was so tired, and I started to fall asleep.

"GET UP BOY WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE" Petunias shrill voice echoed throughout the house

I rush upstairs and get my trunk, I shrink my stuff and put it in my pocket as I carry Hedwig and have Ebony wrapped around my arm. I sit in the car smiling and excited, but I look in the mirror and see a handprint bruise on my neck. I close my eyes and breath as I wish for it to disappear. I open my eyes slowly and look at my reflection again and see it's gone.

We arrive at Kings Cross, and I quickly grab Hedwig and leave the car, I look at the clock and see that I'm on time. I look around to make sure no one is watching and unshrink my cart and trunk. I run through the wall to see the Hogwarts Express I smile knowing that I won't have to deal with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon

I walk onto the train and see Ron and Hermione already in their compartment. I enter and greet them

"Hey Ron, Hermione" I smile with joy seeing my friends again,

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione said joyfully

"Look before we talk about our summer and stuff I need to ask you both something," I said as I close my eyes and take a deep breath

"Of course, Harry, what is it?" Hermione says gently grabbing my hand

"Why did you guys mail me this summer?" I finally asked

"Dumbledore told not to for your safety" Ron stated

I looked at him

"You know how difficult my summer is at the Dursleys, you guys are my best friends and didn't even try…" I was heartbroken

I got up and left the compartment and saw Draco Malfoy in another compartment. I contemplated if I should open the door or not. I open the door. Draco reacts immediately

"What are you doing here, ? !"

I flinch at the sudden noise

"Is your friend request still open, Malfoy?" I say bluntly

The look on Malfoy's face was pur k

"The weasel and mudblood not cutting out for you?" Draco sneers

"Don't call her a mudblood, and I found out that Dumbledore was telling them not to mail me, so I got mad?" I say while looking down at the table

"Call me Draco" Draco puts out his hand, I shake it as I retort back

"Then call me Harry."

Two other people enter the compartment

"Harry this is Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson"

"Hello Harry"

"Hi" They both greet me

"How was your guys summer," I ask the three

Pansy jumped at the question

"Oh, it was wonderful! I went to France and got to ea s" Pansy gushed and smiled

I chuckle at her excitement, Blaise replied also

"It was nice, I had a chill summer," Blaise said leaning back

Then Draco turned towards me and started to answer, "My family and I also went to France and got to visit a cousin. What did you do, Harry?"

I stayed silent because I didn't know how to respond since my relatives are um exciting people, but Blaise jumped in

"Harry what's that bruise on your neck" Blaise pointed at my neck, and my hands covered it immediately

"Oh it's nothing just some roughhousing" I waved it off, Draco started to speak

"Harry did your relatives do that to you?" Draco looks concerned, and for some reason, I shot it down, I found people who could help me and who noticed my injuries but didn't let them help me?

"What? No no, I'm going to take a nap right now since we have a lot of time till we arrive" I ended that part of the conversation and put my face in my arms on the table as I fell asleep.

The man in the shadows appears again; he hugs me. I feel tears running down my face I tell him "save me, please save me" He hugged me tighter, My eyes shoot open as he hugged me tighter. I smiled and never wanted this moment to end, the man pulled away and gently put his pale hand on my face. He whispered "Harry" I reached out as he slowly disappeared "wait who are you?!" I yelled desperately

"Soon harry soon" He whispered

I jerked awake.